


A Bother

by KakumeiNoHi



Series: The Stories of Winter and her Partner [6]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Atlas Academy, Canon Universe, F/F, RWBY - Freeform, Winter Schnee - Freeform, a bit of angst (but it gets better), bad eating habits (nothing too heavy though, but I'd rather tag than trigger, rwby canon universe, rwby fluff, this also gets better)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:16:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26669578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KakumeiNoHi/pseuds/KakumeiNoHi
Summary: A 6th academy life story..........It was a late Friday afternoon, classes were finished and Winter was sitting behind her desk, trying to grind through a report which was due by Monday. She was well into it and she figured that if she kept going like this she'll be done by the evening, so she could review everything over the weekend. She had started early because she wanted it to be absolutely perfect. Winter already knew that she wouldn't like her current first draft and she would need the time to change and add to it.She grabbed one of the books she had been using as a reference to read up on certain aspects in her report, when she suddenly had a strange feeling...she closed the book immediately, slammed it over her head and felt resistance.“Ugh.” -Bullseye.Winter felt a hand drop onto her shoulder. A hand which was attached to an arm that would have otherwise moved around her shoulders and belonged to her partner. A partner who was now standing behind her and slightly teary-eyed holding her nose.
Relationships: Winter Schnee/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Stories of Winter and her Partner [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1914799
Kudos: 14





	A Bother

**Author's Note:**

> This was a snippet that was originally meant to be a short moment in another story only. When I started putting it down as a note however, I felt like elaborating more and more and it so it turned into a whole long story by itself ^^"  
> As per usual please indulge me and my writing and enjoy :)

It was a late Friday afternoon, classes were finished and Winter was sitting behind her desk, trying to grind through a report which was due by Monday. She was well into it and she figured that if she kept going like this she'll be done by the evening, so she could review everything over the weekend. She had started early because she wanted it to be absolutely perfect. Winter already knew that she wouldn't like her current first draft and she would need the time to change and add to it.

She grabbed one of the books she had been using as a reference to read up on certain aspects in her report, when she suddenly had a strange feeling...she closed the book immediately, slammed it over her head and felt resistance.

“Ugh.” - _Bullseye._ Winter felt a hand drop onto her shoulder. A hand which was attached to an arm that would have otherwise moved around her shoulders and belonged to her partner. A partner who was now standing behind her and slightly teary-eyed holding her nose.

“Why do you have to be so cruel?”

“Why do you not listen and stop doing that? I told you not to sneak up on me and needlessly touch me all the time.”

“This wasn't needless. Can't I show some love to my dearest partner who I haven't seen all day?”

It was true that they haven't seen each other today since this morning and because Friday was the only day they had completely different classes.

“How about doing that by using the door to enter and leaving me to my work?”

“Walking through the corridors is a pain and if I'm going to use my semblance I might as well fade to our room and not in front of the door.”

She had a point there, but Winter didn't want to indulge what was basically laziness to begin with.

“Besides I'm not sneaking, aren't you already able to sense me when I'm about to appear? You proved as much right now, didn't you?”

Cassie was now standing next to Winter. Her face was fine, as brutal as it might have looked from the outside, Winter hadn't hit her all that hard and her aura had protected her either way.

“That doesn't mean that you should keep doing that and be a bother.”

“Fine, I'll stop being a bother then.” Cassie started to walk towards their shared cupboard.

“Excuse me for being a bother. I'm going to change out of my uniform now unless that's going to bother you too. It probably will.” She took out a change of clothes.

Out of the corner of her eye Winter could see her holding her black and gray Atlas sweatpants and a simple emerald green sweater. It looked like she wasn't planning on leaving somewhere tonight. Not that she had done so often before. Winter actually liked seeing her in this sweater, the color went well with her eyes, it was also not too snug of a fit and looked comfortable.  
Winter had thought about getting one just like it, since she had often wondered about how she would feel wearing that sweater herself. But why was she even thinking about that again right now? Now was not the time. Winter tried to concentrate on her report once again, but she could still hear her partner muttering to herself.

“Guess, I'm just going to be a bother over here then. Oh, wait. I should take a shower, be bothersome there...”

Winter sighed as her partner went to the bathroom, presumably to take a shower and change into her other clothes. She knew that Cassie was going to be done sulking by the time she was getting out of the shower and done changing, still she felt a little bit bad about her choice of words. In truth the Faunus has actually been nothing but supportive and kind to her, albeit a bit too touchy for her taste.  
Winter was however aware that this wasn't necessarily because she specifically disliked her partner's casual touches or her presence.

She had also noticed that Cassie was generally trying to be conscious about what she was doing. More than once Winter had noticed her retracting her hand halfway through when she was about to put her arm around Winter's shoulder or tap her on the arm. She was trying to respect Winter as best as she could and she would always immediately let go when Winter told her to do so. It just seemed like touches were part of her way of communicating.

Winter had been watching her interact with others and realized that a tap on the arm or a lean on the shoulder was her partner's way of showing interest or fondness. She would also even playfully armlock or pull the cheeks of one of the few boys she sometimes talked to.  
He was a reddish blonde Faunus with a cattail, who seemed to be a bit of an overconfident loud clown. Winter didn't care for him, but Cassie for some reason however seemed to have taken a liking to him.  
Was it because they were both Faunus? Maybe there were things she couldn't talk to Winter about because she thought that she wouldn't know how to relate. Winter felt her chest tighten.  
She would often see Cassie talking to him and his partner, a slender human boy who seemed rather reasonable and timid. Winter had only ever exchanged a few words with them, never on her own however. In general the boys seemed to be in different classes than the two of them. Fridays however at least one of them shared a few with Cassie, which meant that on that day her partner would spent more time with them than with her.

Winter took a deep breath, she really should be trying to finish her report right now, but she didn't seem to be able to concentrate anymore. She really was bothered after all.  
She had also noticed how whenever her partner was talking to one of the other girls she would throw in the occasional exaggerated flirty line. They all knew she wasn't serious, her cheeky smile gave her away, but they would still blush and act all flattered. They would get all soft and start putting their hands all over Cassie, even link their arms under hers. Cassie didn't seem to mind at all. Physical contact like that just seemed very normal for her.  
Winter however was not used to behaving or being treated like that, she didn't know how to react and she was slightly embarrassed because of that.  
All of this, for the most part, was the true reason she simply pushed her partner back, whenever she got too close to her. She also shuddered at the thought of trying to imitate what the other girls did.

Winter also wasn't very good with getting her feelings across using words. Just right now she had told her partner that she was being bothersome all the time, when truthfully she had been the reason Winter has gotten so far as to no longer completely tense up whenever anybody would stand next to her or accidentally brush against her. She had even changed Winter's eating habits for the better.

Winter remember how when they first met she would only eat just about as much as she needed to sustain herself and basically gobble down her food as fast as she could while still looking as dignified as she possibly could.  
Until her partner had pointed it out to her, Winter had never even been aware of the habit she grown into, most likely due to the way she had meals at the manor.

\---------------

Her younger siblings would have most of their meals with their mother. Winter, as the heiress however, would eat with their father.  
This also meant that for as long as she was eating she had to listen to all of his bigheaded rambling and childish outbursts. He was degrading and phony, but still for the sake of her mother and siblings who would be left alone, Winter had endured the oppressive atmosphere.  
Still she had always wanted to just be done with it and leave as soon as possible. This however seemed to have led her to rushing her meals. She would ask for as little as food possible which she would then subconsciously just quickly shovel down.

In hindsight however Klein must have realized what she was doing, even when she herself didn't back then. Knowing how she would have just brushed him off, he might have never said anything directly.  
He did however have a habit of always bringing a plate of several finger sandwiches and whole pitcher of juice to her room in between every meal. Her siblings would only have some afternoon tea and some light sweets, since anything more would spoil their appetites for lunch and dinner.  
Winter, according to Klein, however wouldn't have have to worry about that since these were what he called _especially light_ sandwiches which _also helped her grow body strength_. She had been smart enough to know that he was somehow swindling her for the most part, but she would also still sit in her room and munch them down anyways. He would smile and give her a pat on the head.

On her own Winter however would rather spent that time training, studying or reading in the library and while the academy did provide for kitchens areas for students to use, the cafeteria was a much quicker and easier alternative.

As such Winter was sitting across her partner at said school cafeteria. She had just finished eating and was about to get up.

“Winter, hold up, wait for me.” Winter looked at her partner's plate to see how she was only halfway done with her food.

“You're not even close to being done. I'm going ahead.” She stood up.

“Don't. Go. Come on.”

Winter almost fell when Cassie hooked her legs around Winter's to stop her from leaving. She sighed.

“Fine. Just hurry up.” She sat back down.

“Why? My speed is fine. You're the one who's always just wolfing down her food. Even though it _should_ be me, ironically.”

Winter rolled her eyes at the stupid pun. “What are you even talking about?”

Her partner looked at her curiously.

“Hm? You're not doing it on purpose then? I don't know about your fancy Atlesian ways, maybe you're just having some meals in between whenever I'm not there. I don't know. Still you could wait for me when we're here together, you know?”

“Like I said I have no idea what you're talking about and I don't have any meals in between...”

Cassie looked like she was pondering something as she took a bite out of her meal, Winter was slightly puzzled, but she decided to wait.

“Well, every time we come here you just take whatever looks the smallest and you just eat it super quickly. It's always like you're just in a hurry to be done with it and leave. So I just figured you prefer having several quick meals a day.”

“I don't. We have breakfast, lunch and dinner together that's it.”

“Then I just didn't notice...” Her ears lowered. “What you're doing isn't quite healthy, you know?” She looked genuinely concerned.

“I've been doing fine so far.” Why was Cassie prattling on about this?  
Sure, Winter was a bit on the slim side, but wasn't that just how she was build? She started tapping her finger on the table.  
Back then Winter had really thought that she was perfectly healthy, but then again her body also wasn't really used to anything other than stress and strain.

“Winter, with the amount of training we're doing you can't sustain yourself if you don't eat properly. You have to eat more than what you're eating right now and you have to take your time, otherwise you'll crash and collapse soon enough.”

Emerald eyes were looking directly into hers. Did she really look so weak? Was that really what her partner thought of her? That she was somebody who was about to faint just like that?  
Winter was about to snap at her partner, when she remembered something similar happen when they had first met. Winter took a deep breath. There was no need to get angry, she should know by now that her partner was simply worried and once more only meant well.

“I won't collapse. Just worry about yourself and finish your own meal, so we can leave.”

Cassie looked to the side. She didn't look satisfied with that response.

“Fine, I'll finish up quicker. Help me then.”

“Excuse me?” Winter was stunned. “How am I supposed to that?”

“Open up.” She was holding her fork in front of Winter's face.

“Don't be stupid.”

“I won't leave until you take it and help me.”

“I'm leaving.” Winter slammed her hands on the table to get up and once more Cassie hooked her legs around one of hers and she had to sit back down.

“You can't be serious.”

Winter looked at her partner who was now looking at her with big teary eyes and hung down ears. There really was no way around this, was there?  
And so Winter sighed and relucantly took the bite. Her partner's ears immediately perked back up. Winter was so annoyed at herself.  
She was only happy that Cassie took enough mercy to only offer her every third or so bite, since Winter felt her face getting redder and redder with with each bite she took.  
The next day Winter had taken slightly bigger meals.  
She actually ate everything and with much effort she had managed to slow down enough to at least somewhat match her partner's speed. It almost felt like she was retraining and fighting a muscle memory. But Winter was definitely not going to suffer through the embarrassment of being fed by somebody else in the school cafeteria, in public, ever again.

\---------------

Within several weeks Winter had gotten very used to eating more and slower.

Cassie had also decided that they should try and do some simple cooking at least in the evenings when they had more time for it and Winter had not only indeed started to feel a lot more balanced than before, but the two of them had also brushed up on their cooking skills.

She was also less exhausted and her body was so comfortable that she herself now was wondering about how she hadn't been collapsing all time ever since she came to the academy. She had also realized that Klein was probably the reason she hasn't been before she came here.

Winter had also gained a little more weight, it had made her a lot more grounded in fights and her sword strikes had more strenght now. During her sparring matches with Cassie and her huge halberd Winter was now sent flying a lot less. Which wasn't to say that she was now suddenly able to completely block one of her full blows. When it came down to it Winter still had to rely on her agility, semblance boosts and summoning distractions. Still she couldn't even imagine how she had been still standing, let alone fighting up until now.

Her figure had started to slightly change as well. Winter never really had a complex about not being as _shapely_ as other young women her age. She was not only technically still growing but she also quite frankly had other worse things to worry about in her life. And it's not like she could go to her mother and talk about worries like that anyways.

Still she had started to spend a lot more time looking at herself in the long mirror after every time she changed clothes. The areas around her hips and her chest in particular have started to feel a bit tighter and she was wondering about how soon she needed to get some new clothes, she would also grow a little in height some time soon surely.

One evening Cassie had noticed her looking at the mirror for a bit too long and she had quickly jumped to put her arms around Winter's shoulders and rest her head on them.

“Soooo, you like what you're seeing, gorgeous?” Her smile was as cheeky as ever.

Winter placed her hand on her partner's face, she was about to shove her off when she had to stop. Her face had started to become bright red and she just froze. Winter didn't know what to do.

She was suddenly conscious about how she _did_ like the way she was looking.  
Rather than just thinking it to herself being made aware of it by somebody else seemed to hit her differently.  
Winter was now embarrassed about how she had been feeling good about and admiring herself in the mirror. It wasn't even like the changes were _that_ big. But she had let her emotions get the better of her and like a child she had been overjoyed because of something this insignificant.  
Her partner surely must have noticed all of this, she was rather observant after all. Winter lowered her eyes, she was getting ready to be made fun of...but nothing came. Instead Cassie had let go of her. Winter felt one of her hands reach up to her head and ruffle through her hair.

“Good for you.” she had hummed and walked toward their beds to climb onto her top bunk and under the covers.

Winter simply remained standing. Nothing really happened but she felt like she was about to cry. She turned to slowly walk to the bathroom. She closed the door and took a deep breath. She ran some cold water to wash and cool down her face. She took another deep breath. She was fine. She left the bathroom again.

“I'm turning off the lights now, okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Cass...”

“Hm?”

“....thanks...”

“What for?”

“Nevermind.”

\---------------

Her partner had just left the bathroom when Winter had finally decided to put down her pen. She was not going to finish her report today. Instead she was looking at her partner who was now standing in front of the long mirror in their room. She was checking her ears and fussing with her hair. When they first met it reached just above her shoulders and now it was slightly below. The new length seemed to have gotten her thinking.

Winter got up. She took a deep breath and walked towards her. Without her heels Winter wasn't tall enough to reach around her shoulders and so she did the next best thing and just put her arms around her partner right below her chest. “Sooooooo, y-you like what you're seeing, gorgeous?” She fumbled the line a little.

Cassie was stunned and froze at first. Winter felt heat rising up in her own body. Maybe it was because her partner had just come out of the shower and her body felt extremely warm in Winter's arms. She also had a strangely nice scent that Winter hadn't noticed before. Winter however hadn't seen a new shampoo or body wash in the bathroom and weren't they usually using the same things?  
Winter didn't know when to let go, but she also wasn't being pushed off and so she decided to wait for a reply. After a few seconds which seemed like an eternity, Winter heard a chuckle.

“You know what? I think really I do.”

Winter abruptly let go and returned to her desk to put away her papers.  
There was a brief moment of silence, but then Cassie decided to speak.

“Winter?”

“Y-yes?”

“That was okay, you know.”

“Don't get used to it.”

“Alright.

And...sorry for being bothersome all the time...” It seemed like she was really worrying about it.

“You're not. Really.”

“Okay....good...” She sounded relieved. “Wanna get some sandwiches and snacks and watch something later? We can hook up my scroll.”

“Is it going to be some dumb action movie with lot of explosions?”

“There's a cool documentary about Vacuo's wildlife? Last time they showed some crabs who turn gigantic when you provoke them. It's like everything is trying to kill you over there. It's kind of impressive.”

Winter chuckled “Sounds good. Then you get your scroll ready while I'll go and get us some food. I need to stretch my legs anyway.”

“Oh, right, you were writing a report all this time. Did you finish already?”

“I'll review and finish it tomorrow.” Winter started to walk towards the door.

“I see. If you're still missing reference books for it, just ask. I can get them for you. I'm free of reports this weekend.”

“I don't n- ” Winter stopped mid-sentence. “I will.” She opened the door. “I'll be right back.”

“See you in a bit.”

Winter closed the door behind her. The corridor was empty, most of their fellow student were outside shopping or in their rooms getting ready to go out late and party. Not Winter. Not her partner. They were getting ready to spend their Friday night watching a documentary and eating their favorite snacks.  
Winter laughed a little at how childish it all seemed. But somehow, as long as it was something she did with her partner, it seemed alright and with that in mind she started to walk down the corridor.

**Author's Note:**

> In my mind Winter was the same height and figure as Weiss during V1-3 and she grew into the way we see her these days :)  
> Very much like Weiss seems to be growing taller and bit more shapely (like the rest of team rwby and jnr all seem to have grown).  
> Both sisters in comparison to others are still fairly small and dainty however xD Though I do feel that Winter will still always remain the taller of the two. even if just a bit since she comes more after Jacques than Willow.


End file.
